Gorokhan sat half-curled in an armchair at the back of the library, her nose buried in the pages of The Hobbit. It served the dual purpose of entertaining her and building on the English lessons Sarah had been giving her. Sarah had highly recommended this story in particular, despite the dragon being the villain of the story. Gorokhan didn't mind; if nothing else it would be educational, seeing how people in this world held dragons in low esteem as well as high. And the other characters were plenty interesting enough to keep her reading until Smaug's appearance. She had to wonder if the elves in this story were anything like the Fair Ones she kept hearing about here.

Aravilui was fond of the library. It was quiet, rarely did conversations involve more than two or three people, and there were a great many books they had not yet read. Granted, many were of no interest, but not all.

They glanced at the stranger reading The Hobbit curiously, but let them be. After all, they both were likely here for much the same reason.

Gorokhan nodded, her smile widening. "I haven't gotten to that one yet. I haven't been able to read in English for very long." Spending so much time with Sarah had altered her speech patterns. A year ago she would never have used contractions. "Is the sequel very similar to this one?"

Aravilui laughed softly and shook their head. "No. It is a much darker story, though it is ultimately a story of hope and the triumph of good over evil. That is, in comparison, a light children's story. In fact, that was the author's intent. Part of the reason he started to write it down is his children kept calling him out on details. Or so I've heard. My name is Aravilui, and since most people get confused, my pronoun is they."

"A pleasure to meet you." Aravilui nodded. "But you seemed engrossed, and I do not wish to interrupt. By the way, the sequel is called The Lord of The Rings, but was originally published as three books; The Fellowship of the Ring,The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. I am uncertain how you will find them in this library. It is possible both forms are here."

Aravilui smiled. "It does get a bit difficult to tell the difference here at times. I teach archery and outdoor survival. I am most amused by how astonished my students are when I suggest a steel knife for those that can handle them, while holding bronze."

They shrugged. "My goal is to teach them to survive long enough to get out of a survival situation, not uphold an agenda. There is a reason steel spread so far, and I can see it objectively."

Gorokhan nodded. "I notice many people here are averse to iron. Nothing like where I come from. The humans there cover themselves in it for protection. Mainly those who come to try and kill me for gold and glory. They have so much faith in it, yet it hasn't saved one yet." Her tone remained matter-of-fact throughout.

"That would be because many of us are not human at all. Such as myself. There was a time humans covered themselves in iron, but those days are mostly long gone. It was most effective when they fought amongst themselves. I actually rather like the current tendency to make quite effective knives of ceramic, but it is difficult to strike a spark from it and so I still favor my bronze."

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"It is entirely possible. We have quite the array of various peoples here." Aravilui knelt at a nearby bookshelf to begin browsing it. "And however similar many of them look, sometimes that is about all they have in common."

Aravilui shrugged. "Something to catch my interest. My class does not often result in papers for me to grade, which leaves me plenty of time for other things. While it might not seem so, socializing is not one of the things I seek out."

Aravilui glanced over their shoulder and smiled at her. "No, not necessarily. There is a difference between seeking out and welcoming, and I do not mind the latter."

They glanced at the book in her hands. "What are you thinking of that one, by the way? You seem to be enjoying it, as you expressed interest in the sequel, but there is much to enjoying or just having interest in a book that is beyond those two words."

"It's very interesting. I admit I only picked it up at first because I heard there was a dragon in it, and I wanted to see how their treatment was the same or different than my own. But Bilbo and the rest are plenty of reason to read it in themselves. They won't meet Smaug for a few more chapters yet."

"Well, dragons in that world are strictly evil. They seek only death and destruction. There are other novels with more nuanced depictions, but those were written by a man whose religion connects dragons with the source of all evil, at least in the English translations of their holy book. And of course, the majority of the mythologies that formed on the west side of the Caucasus mountains cast dragons as evil as well."

Aravilui shrugged. "Most of them cast those such as myself in a darker light as well, but that is as much experience as anything."

They paused and laughed. "I am in an expository mood today. Early in the school year tends to do that. Forgive me if I bored you."

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Gorokhan smiled and shook her head. "No, no. Though I admit I've heard a little of that before. My friend Sarah has told me many stories about dragons both good and evil. I find it strange that humans in this world and mine seem to share similar views of dragons based on their appearance. In my true form I am taken for a monster, while my sister Inishan is held in high esteem for her wisdom. All because she is... what is the word... cisgender? And I am what Sarah calls transgender. The humans always mistake me for a male."

"I understand the last frustration, being mistaken for a gender one is not." Aravilui shrugged again.

"I don't know much about dragons here save in part the existence of the myths; you would have to ask those more closely connected. I am more closely related to the Norse myths of Álfheim and their light elves, and know little outside of my own experience. Human confusion was not often something I was that interested in."

Gorokhan nodded, shifting position again. "It interests me mostly because my ancestors are the ones who created humans in my home realm. We are as gods to them, and they treated us so at first, but in time they forgot and made gods for themselves in their own image." She didn't sound bitter, more regretful than anything.

"Humans are skilled at forgetting. I think it has in part to do with their short spans. Racial memory does not survive well when generations flit by so swiftly. There is only so much that can be remembered, and most is devoted to individual experience."

"Sad but true. And then what lingers in their minds are fear and doubt, which bodes not well for those of us with longer memories." Which was one of the reasons this place was growing on her so much. Among so many immortals, no one thought of her as fearsome. Even the mortals here were more understanding. But taking their form likely had something to do with that as well. She didn't dare risk resuming her true form, not where she could do so much damage to the buildings by her sheer size alone.